Urban Policy Modelling and Diversity Governance in Doha and Singapore

Abstract

AbstractThe transnational circulation of policy ideas has been increasingly advanced as a significant factor in the fabric of local diversity policies. On the one hand, the circulation of managerial concepts such as diversity management has contributed to the rise of neoliberal urban diversity models; on the other, city networks, international organisations, and transnational civic movements are pushing forward progressive urban diversity agendas. This chapter aims to analyse the role of such processes of policy modelling in shaping urban diversity governance. It is based on fieldwork conducted in Doha and Singapore since 2018 and on the analysis of these cities’ policy documents. The chapter shows how transnationally circulating references and norms contribute to shaping local diversity governance frameworks and how both cities strive to position themselves as diversity governance models. I argue that their modelling strategies rely on the spatial and organisational compartmentalisation of distinct diversity frames. The chapter identifies four compartments in Doha and Singapore that correspond to distinct understandings of diversity and differentiated modelling strategies. This allows to minimise policy tensions, alleviate external critiques, and craft local experiments that can be projected as models on the world stage.